Apparatus and method for the production of short pastry bakery products, particularly biscuits, having edible particulates

Abstract

 An apparatus and a method for the production of short pastry bakery products, particularly biscuits, having edible particulates is described, the apparatus comprising a forming roller (21) having a plurality of moulds (25) and characterised in that each of said moulds (25) comprises a socket (26) constituting a receiving seat for a dough mix (3) comprising a first fraction (23) of said edible particulates, each socket having dimensions substantially comparable to those of the desired end bakery products, and at least one cavity (27), preferably a plurality of cavities (27), formed in said sockets (26) and each constituting a receiving seat for an edible particulate of a second fraction (24) of said edible particulates, and in that it comprises a finishing roller (28) comprising a plurality of moulds (34) having dimensions at least comparable to those of said sockets (26), said finishing roller (28) being capable of intercepting in the respective moulds (34) a plurality of first semi-finished products (29) formed in the moulds (25) of the forming roller (21) and having edible particulates of said second fraction (24) raised onto the dough mix (3), compressing said raised edible particulates in such moulds (34) and releasing therefrom a plurality of second semi-finished products (35) wherein at least said edible particulates (24) are embedded or inserted onto the surface of said second semi-finished products (35).

Description

Field of application

[0001] In its more general aspect, the present invention relates to the field of bakery food products production.

[0002] In particular, the present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for the production of short pastry bakery products, particularly biscuits, having edible particulates.

Prior art

[0003] In the field of short pastry bakery products production, in particular biscuits, the importance of including edible particulates, such as for example chocolate, raisins, candied fruit, sugar grains etc., in the starting dough mix, both for their organoleptic and nutritional qualities and for better distinguishing the end product, is well known.

[0004] By way of example, several types of shortbread biscuits comprising chocolate-based edible particulates meeting with a certain success, are well known.

[0005] These bakery products are normally obtained using a rotary moulding apparatus comprising two rollers arranged in parallel and in tangential contact with each other, a first roller, also referred to as the forming roller, having a surface whereon a plurality of forming moulds are made arranged according to a set pattern and of dimensions comparable to those of the desired end products and a second roller, also referred to as the feed roller, having a grooved surface.

[0006] The two rollers are in overhead communication with a hopper wherein a previously prepared short pastry dough mix, to which the desired edible particulates have already been added, is loaded.

[0007] The above rollers are made to move in opposite angular directions so that the dough mix can be pushed towards the area of tangential contact between the rollers through the grooves of the second roller which, still in the above-mentioned contact area, also pushes the dough into the moulds of the first roller so as to form a semi-finished bakery product in each mould.

[0008] The apparatus is also equipped with suitable devices for collecting the semi-finished bakery products from the moulds for then sending them on to baking in a suitable oven.

[0009] Although the above-mentioned apparatus is satisfactory and substantially meets the aim, it exhibits a serious drawback in that the edible particulates become substantially randomly incorporated in the dough mix during its forming between the above-mentioned rollers, thus obtaining, at the end of the forming, semi-finished products in which said edible particulates are not exposed or, at least, only a very small part of them can surface.

[0010] This is a disadvantages for the end short pastry bakery products, which are consequently poorly distinguishable from similar bakery products without edible particulates, as, in actual fact, they exhibit an outward appearance that is very similar to these latter ones.

[0011] Consequently, short pastry bakery products with edible particulates obtained with the above-mentioned apparatus do not enjoy considerable consumer appeal .

[0012] The technical problem underlying the present invention is that of providing an apparatus and related method for the production of short pastry bakery products, particularly biscuits, comprising edible particulates, wherein a part of said edible particulates is neatly exposed so as to overcome the drawbacks previously mentioned with respect to the cited prior art.

Summary of the invention

[0013] Such a problem is solved, according to the invention, by an apparatus for the production of short pastry bakery products, particularly biscuits, having edible particulates, the apparatus comprising:

• a forming roller having a surface whereon a plurality of short pastry dough forming moulds are made, the dough comprising a first fraction of a plurality of edible particulates,
• a feed roller co-operating with the forming roller for pushing said short pastry dough comprising said first fraction of edible particulates to fill said moulds, thus forming a plurality of first semi-finished bakery products, each one in a respective mould,
• a conveyor belt co-operating with the forming roller for collecting said first semi-finished products from the respective moulds,

the apparatus being characterised in that
each of said moulds comprises a socket constituting the receiving seat for said dough mix comprising said first fraction of the plurality of edible particulates, each socket being formed on the surface of the forming roller in dimensions being substantially comparable to those of the desired end bakery products, and at least one cavity, preferably a plurality of cavities, formed in said sockets and each of them constituting a seat for an edible particulate of a second fraction of said plurality of edible particulates, said first semi-finished products thus having edible particulates of said first fraction substantially incorporated in said dough mix and edible particulates of said second fraction substantially raised from the surface of the dough, and in that it comprises:

a dispensing station for dispensing, according to a predetermined distribution, said second fraction of edible particulates in said moulds not yet occupied by said short pastry dough comprising said first fraction of edible particulates, so that said edible particulates of the second fraction can occupy at least part of the cavities of said moulds, and

a finishing roller having a surface whereon a plurality of moulds are made having substantially the same arrangement as that of the forming roller and dimensions comparable to those of said sockets, said roller co-operating with the conveyor belt so as to intercept said first semi-finished products in the respective moulds, compress, in such moulds, said raised edible particulates of the second fraction and release, from said moulds, a plurality of second semi-finished products wherein said edible particulates of the second fraction are substantially embedded or inserted into the surface of the dough.

[0014] The present invention is based on the fact that it has been surprisingly found that by mixing the short pastry dough with only part of the totality of the desired edible particulates and by shaping the moulds of the forming roller of a rotary moulding apparatus so as to provide distinct, and communicating seats for respectively containing the short pastry dough having the edible particulates associated therewith and the "free" edible particulates, i.e. not mixed with the short pastry dough, a semi-finished product is obtained wherein the above-mentioned free edible particulates can be arranged on the dough according to the desired pattern and in such a way that they are exposed.

[0015] Such arrangement cannot be attained with an apparatus that uses a traditional forming roller by simply providing for the separate loading, into the moulds, of the dough mix comprising the edible particulates and of the free edible particulates for example by first dispensing in the moulds the free edible particulates and then the dough mix comprising the edible particulates. In fact, in this case, upon rotation of the forming roller, the free edible particulates would drift towards an end portion of the respective moulds, and said free edible particulates would substantially mix with the dough. Therefore, the end result would be that the edible particulates are clustered together, in the semi-finished products extracted from the moulds, substantially becoming one lump.

[0016] On the contrary, with the forming roller according to the invention, first semi-finished products can be advantageously obtained wherein originally free edible particulates, i.e. not mixed with the short pastry dough, are raised with respect to the surface of the dough according to a predetermined arrangement which advantageously depends on the arrangement of the respective seats in the moulds and on the amount or number of edible particulates not mixed with the dough mix which are dispensed in each mould.

[0017] In accordance with the invention, said first semi-finished products can be treated with an additional finishing roller structurally similar to a forming roller of a conventional apparatus but having moulds of dimensions comparable to those of the desired products, preferably slightly greater, so as to intercept the above-mentioned first finished products in the moulds and compress the raised edible particulates into the dough until they are substantially inserted in the dough or flush with the surface of the dough itself.

[0018] Downstream of the finishing roller a plurality of second semi-finished products are thus obtained which, after baking, result in short pastry bakery products according to the invention wherein part of the edible particulates, i.e. the edible particulates not originally mixed with the dough, are exposed from the products themselves.

[0019] The above technical problem is also solved by a method for the production of short pastry bakery products having edible particulates which uses the above-mentioned apparatus. Such method comprises the steps of:

• preparing a short pastry dough mix comprising a first fraction of a plurality of edible particulates,
• loading said dough mix between said forming roller and said feed roller,
• continuously dispensing according to a predetermined distribution, a second fraction of said plurality of edible particulates in empty moulds of the forming roller so as to occupy at least part of the cavities of said moulds while said forming roller and said feed roller are made to rotate in opposite angular directions, thus obtaining a plurality of first semi-finished products wherein the edible particulates of said first fraction are substantially incorporated in said dough mix and the edible particulates of said second fraction are substantially raised with respect to the surface of the dough,
• running the conveyor belt along a forward direction concurrent with the forward direction of the forming roller surface generated by the rotation direction thereof, thus obtaining the release of said first semi-finished products from said moulds and the collection thereof on the conveyor belt,
• rotating said finishing roller in the same angular direction as the forming roller and at such a speed as to intercept said first semi-finished products in its moulds, compressing said raised edible particulates of the second fraction in said moulds and releasing therefrom a plurality of second semi-finished products wherein said edible particulates of the second fraction are substantially embedded onto the surface of the dough,
• recovering said second semi-finished products from the conveyor belt and sending them on to baking.

[0020] Preferably, the weight ratio of the edible particulates of said first fraction to the edible particulates of said second fraction varies between 30:70 and 70:30.

[0021] According to a particularly preferred embodiment, the weight ratio of the edible particulates of said first fraction to the edible particulates of said second fraction is of about 50:50.

[0022] Preferably, in the method according to the invention, the finishing roller has substantially the same angular speed as the forming roller.

[0023] Preferably, the forming roller, feed roller and the finishing roller have an angular speed comprised between 4 and 20 rpm.

[0024] Preferably, the running speed of the conveyor belt is comprised between 5 and 14 m/ min.

[0025] The characteristics and advantages of the invention will become clearer from the following description of a preferred embodiment, given by way of indicative and non-limiting example with reference to the annexed drawings wherein:

• figure 1 schematically shows a rotary moulding apparatus according to the prior art for the production of short pastry bakery products comprising edible particulates.
• Figure 2 shows a rotary moulding apparatus according to the invention for the production of short pastry bakery products comprising edible particulates.
• Figure 3 shows a detail of the apparatus of figure 2,
• Figure 4 shows a portion of a forming roller accomplished according to the invention and applicable to the apparatus of figure 2, and
• Figure 5 shows a drop-shaped shortbread biscuit having exposed chocolate particulates which can be obtained with the apparatus of figure 2 wherein the forming roller shown in figure 4 is used.

[0026] With reference to figure 1, a rotary moulding apparatus according to the prior art for the production of short pastry bakery products comprising edible particulates is globally indicated with 1.

[0027] The apparatus 1 comprises a hopper 2 in communication, beneath, with a first roller 6 and a second roller 7. A previously prepared short pastry dough 3 to which a predetermined amount of edible particulates 23 has been added is loaded in the hopper 2.

[0028] The first roller 6 and the second roller 7 are arranged substantially in parallel to each other and in tangential contact along a contact area 8.

[0029] The first roller 6, normally referred to as the forming roller, has a conveying surface 6a whereon a plurality of forming moulds 9 of the short pastry dough 3 containing edible particulates 23 are made. The forming moulds 9 have a predetermined distribution on the surface 9a of the first roller 6 and dimensions substantially comparable to those of the end short pastry products. The first roller 6 is preferably of a plastic material having a low adhesion coefficient, for example teflon.

[0030] The second roller 7, normally referred to as the feed roller, preferably has a surface featuring longitudinal grooves 10.

[0031] During the operation of the apparatus 1, the forming roller 6 and the feed roller 7 are made to rotate in opposite angular directions, respectively indicated with A and B, so that the dough mix 3 is conveyed towards the contact area 8 with the aid of the grooves 10 of the feed roller 7. Such grooves 10 also push the dough mix 3 into the moulds 9 of the forming roller 6 so as to fill them and to obtain a plurality of semi-finished products 11 having dimensions comparable to the end short pastry bakery products and that are made of portions of the dough 3 containing edible particulates 23.

[0032] Below the tangential contact area 8 between the forming roller 6 and the feed roller 7, the apparatus 1 comprises a scraper 12 in contact with the surface of the forming roller 6 and a conveyor belt 13 for the extraction and the collection of the semi-finished products 11 from the moulds 9.

[0033] The scraper 12 essentially has the function of removing any residues of dough 3 which may accumulate on the surface of the forming roller 6 and subsequently detach in correspondence with delicate elements of the machine, such as motors, gearing transmissions, etc. or which in any case could alter the surface finish of the forming roller 6.

[0034] The conveyor belt 13 is dragged by suitable rollers and it comprises an ascending section 13a located between a lower dragging roller 14 and an upper dragging roller 15, followed by a descending section 13b.

[0035] More in particular, the lower dragging roller 14 is arranged below the forming roller 6 in close proximity thereof and the upper dragging roller 15 is suitably distanced from the lower dragging roller 14 so as to have a portion 13c of the ascending section 13a substantially in contact with a circumferential portion of the forming roller 6.

[0036] Moreover, the forward direction C of the ascending section 13a is concurrent with the forward direction of the surface 6a of the forming roller 6 generated by the rotation direction A thereof.

[0037] The conveyor belt 13 is made of a material having an adhesion coefficient towards the dough mix 3 higher than that of the material of the forming roller 6, said material being preferably cloth. Thanks to this adhesion difference, the conveyor belt 13 can extract and collect on its conveying surface the semi-finished products 11 from the moulds 9 which cross the portion 13c of the conveyor belt 13 in contact with the forming roller 6.

[0038] Moreover, the lower dragging roller 14 is preferably made of rubber so as to compensate the squeezing of the conveyor belt 13 between the forming roller 6 and said lower dragging roller 14 which, otherwise, could damage the conveyor belt material 13.

[0039] The semi-finished products thus collected on the ascending section 13a of the conveyor belt 13 continue their path along the descending section 13b for then being sent on to a baking oven thus obtaining the end short pastry bakery products with edible particulates.

[0040] Referring now to figures 2 and 3, an apparatus according to the invention for the production of short pastry bakery products with exposed edible particulates is globally indicated with 20.

[0041] The same reference numbers will be given to the elements of the apparatus 20 that are structurally or functionally equivalent to those of the conventional apparatus 1.

[0042] The apparatus 20 comprises a hopper 2 for loading a dough mix 3 for short pastry comprising edible particulates 23, the hopper 2 being, in communication beneath with a forming roller 21 and a feed roller 7.

[0043] According to the present invention, the dough mix 3 comprises only a part of the edible particulates desired in the end short pastry products whereas the remaining part not mixed with the dough mix 3 is loaded separately by means of a dispenser 22. The edible particulates not mixed with the dough mix 3 are hereafter globally indicated with 24.

[0044] The dispenser 22 is arranged on the forming roller 21 so as to dispense predetermined amounts of said edible particulates 24 not mixed with the dough mix in empty moulds 25 of said forming roller 21, i.e. in moulds 25 not yet occupied by the dough mix 3 with the edible particulates 23 associated therewith.

[0045] The forming roller 21 and the feed roller 7 are arranged substantially parallel to each other and in tangential contact along a contact area 8. Moreover, the feed roller 7 preferably exhibits a surface with grooves 10 for conveying the dough mix 3 towards the contact area 8 between the forming roller 21 and the feed roller 7.

[0046] The forming roller 21 has a conveying surface 21a whereon a plurality of moulds generally indicated with 25 and distributed in a predetermined way are made. According to the present invention each mould 25 comprises a socket 26 constituting a receiving seat for the dough mix 3 mixed with the edible particulates 23, each socket 26 being formed on the conveying surface 21a of the forming roller 21 with dimensions substantially comparable to those of the desired end bakery products and at least one cavity 27, preferably a plurality of cavities 27, formed in said sockets 26 and each constituting a seat for an edible particulate 24 not associated with the dough mix 3.

[0047] Preferably, the cavities 27 are formed on a bottom surface of the corresponding sockets 26. The cavities 27 can have any shape, preferably a cylindrical or truncated conical shape. In particular, the use of a truncated conical shape favours the sliding of the edible particulates 24 in the cavities when the edible particulates 24 are made to fall by gravity in the empty moulds 25 from their dispenser 22.

[0048] Below the contact area 8 between the forming roller 21 and the feed roller 7, the apparatus 20 comprises a scraper 12 in contact with the surface 21a of the forming roller 21 and a conveyor belt 13 for the extraction and the collection of first semi-finished products 29 from the moulds 25 of the forming roller 21.

[0049] The function of the scraper 12 is equivalent to the one previously indicated in connection with the above described conventional apparatus 1.

[0050] The conveyor belt 13 is dragged by suitable rollers and comprises an ascending section 13a interposed between a lower dragging roller 14 and an upper dragging roller 30, followed by a descending section 13b.

[0051] More in particular, the lower dragging roller 14 is arranged below the forming roller 21 in close proximity thereof, and the upper roller 30 is suitably distanced from the lower dragging roller 14 so that the conveyor belt 13 is substantially in contact with a circumferential portion of the forming roller 21 along a portion 13c of the ascending section 13a.

[0052] Moreover, the forward direction C of the ascending section 13a is concurrent with the forward direction of the surface 21a of the first roller 21 generated by the rotation direction A thereof.

[0053] The conveyor belt 13 is made of a material having an adhesion coefficient for the dough mix 3 which is higher than that of the material of the forming roller 21. Suitable materials for the conveyor belt 13 are preferably cloth and similar fabrics.

[0054] Thanks to this difference in adhesion, the conveyor belt 13 can extract and collect on its surface the first semi-finished products 29 from the moulds 25 which cross the portion 13c of the conveyor belt 13 in contact with the forming roller 21.

[0055] The first semi-finished products 29 thus collected on the branch 13a of the conveyor belt 13, by virtue of the conformation of the respective moulds 25, consist of portions of the dough mix 3 comprising edible particulates 23 originally mixed therewith which are substantially incorporated in the dough mix 3 and edible particulates 24 not mixed with the dough mix 3 which are substantially in surface relief.

[0056] According to the invention, the apparatus 20 also comprises a third roller 28, or finishing roller, arranged above the upper dragging roller 30 of the conveyor belt 13 and substantially in tangential contact with said conveyor belt 13 in an area 32.

[0057] The finishing roller 28 has a plurality of moulds 34 substantially having the same arrangement as that of the moulds 25 of the finishing roller 21 and dimensions preferably comparable to those of the sockets 26 of the forming roller 21, preferably a little greater.

[0058] The finishing roller 28 is made to rotate in the same angular direction as the finishing roller 21 and with substantially the same angular speed so as to intercept in the respective moulds 34 the first semi-finished products 29 coming from the forming roller 21 and transported by the ascending branch 13a of the conveyor belt 13.

[0059] The first semi-finished products 29 thus intercepted in the moulds 34 undergo, in said tangential contact area 32, a compression of the edible particulates 24 raised on the dough mix 3, the entity of this pressure being however previously determined, by suitably dimensioning the moulds 34, so as to push the above-mentioned edible particulates 24 raised on the dough 23 until they are substantially embedded or inserted onto the surface of the dough mix 3 optionally until they are substantially flush with the surface of the dough mix 3.

[0060] Therefore, downstream of the contact area 32, a plurality of second semi-finished products 35 will be obtained wherein the edible particulates 24 will advantageously be exposed.

[0061] Said semi-finished products 35 are then led by the descending branch 13b of the conveyor belt 13 towards a baking oven wherefrom the end bakery products are obtained.

[0062] In the apparatus 20 according to the invention, it is worth noting that the lower dragging roller 14 and the upper dragging roller 30 are preferably made of rubber. In such way, the squeezing of the conveyor belt 13 is compensated for respectively between the forming roller 6 and said lower dragging roller 14 and between the upper dragging roller 30 and said finishing roller 28 which otherwise could damage the conveyor belt 13 material.

[0063] Figure 4 shows a forming roller 40 according to a preferred embodiment of the invention applicable to the apparatus 20 for the production of shortbread biscuits.

[0064] The roller 40 has a surface 40a whereon a plurality of moulds globally indicated with 41 and arranged according to a predetermined pattern are formed. Each mould 41 comprises a substantially drop-shaped socket 42 formed on the surface 40a and having dimensions comparable to those of the desired end biscuit, and a plurality of cavities 43 formed on the bottom surface 42a of the socket 42 and constituting the seats for an edible particulate, for example chocolate.

[0065] Each cavity can exhibit a substantially cylindrical or truncated conical shape (not shown) and the disposition of the cavities 43 in the respective sockets 42 may vary from socket to socket so as to obtain different distributions of the exposed edible particulates in the end biscuits, advantageously according to both the number of edible particulates 24 associated with each mould 41 and the effective cavities 43 occupied by said edible particulates 24.

[0066] Figure 5 shows a shortbread biscuit globally indicated with 50 which can be obtained using the apparatus 20 according to the invention whereon the forming roller 40 is mounted. The biscuit 50 comprises a substantially drop-shaped short pastry 51 comprising edible particulates 53 substantially incorporated in said short pastry 51 and edible particulates 52 embedded or inserted onto a surface of the short pastry, said embedded or inserted edible particulates 52 being therefore advantageously exposed on the biscuit 50. In particular, in the example of the shortbread biscuit 50 of figure 5, the embedded edible particulates 52 also slightly protrude from said short pastry surface.

[0067] According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the weight ratio of the edible particulates incorporated in the short pastry 51 and the edible particulates embedded or inserted onto the surface of the short pastry 51 varies from 30:70 to 70:30.

[0068] According to a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, the weight ratio between the edible particulates incorporated in the short pastry 51 and the edible particulates embedded or inserted onto the short pastry 51 is about 50:50.

[0069] The main advantage of the apparatus according to the invention lies in the possibility of obtaining therewith short pastry bakery products, particularly biscuits, having exposed edible particulates, with subsequent increase in appeal of these products to the end consumer.

[0070] In particular, with the present invention, the distribution of the exposed edible particulates on the single end short pastry products can advantageously be varied at one's will by simply varying the number and the distribution of the cavities in the moulds and the number of edible particulates introduced in each mould by the dispenser thereof. Therefore, the short pastry bakery products according to the invention are distinguished, apart by the presence of a certain generally high number of exposed edible particulates, also by a rustic appearance similar to that of home-made products.

[0071] Another advantage lies in that the present invention can be implemented in conventional rotary moulding apparatuses by simply substituting the forming roller of such apparatuses with a roller according to the invention and by providing a finishing roller and a dispenser for the edible particulates independent of the loading hopper of the dough mix.

[0072] The implementation of such modifications does not imply considerable expense thus making the present invention cheap to implement.

[0073] Example

[0074] A plurality of shortbread biscuits with chocolate particulates were produced starting from the ingredients shown in the following table together with the respective weight percentages.

TABLE

Ingredients	Weight %
Flour	60
Sugar	13,3
Vegetable or animal fats	15
Glucose syrup	1
Leavening agents (ammonium bicarbonate and sodium bicarbonate)	0,7
Chocolate particulates	10
Total	100

[0075] In particular, the above-mentioned ingredients, except from the chocolate particulates, were mixed in the respective weight percentages in a conventional mixer so as to obtain a homogeneous short pastry dough. As regards instead the chocolate particulates only about 50% of the total quantity thereof was introduced in the mixer for incorporation in the above dough mix.

[0076] The remaining 50%, approximately, of the total quantity of the chocolate particulates was instead loaded into the dispenser 22 according to the invention, thus obtaining that about 50% of the total chocolate particulates was mixed with the dough mix whereas the remaining 50% was loaded in the above-mentioned dispenser.

[0077] The chocolate particulates were available on the market and each had a weight of about 1g and a substantially conical shape with base of about 4, 5mm of diameter and about 4 mm in height.

[0078] The production of shortbread biscuits with exposed chocolate particulates was then continued using the apparatus according to the invention shown in figure 2 whereon a forming roller had been inserted as shown in figure 4. Each socket of such forming roller had 8 cavities each for the chocolate particulates. The cavities had substantially cylindrical shape, about 6 mm in diameter and about 4 mm in depth.

[0079] The finishing roller had a plurality of moulds having the same distribution of the moulds of the forming roller and dimensions comparable, preferably a slightly greater, to the sockets of the forming roller.

[0080] The operative settings of the apparatus were the following:

• rotation speed of the feed roller 7: 10 rpm,
• rotation speed of the forming roller 40: 10 rpm,
• rotation speed of the finishing roller 28: 10 rpm,
• forward speed of the conveyor belt 13: 11 m/min,
• number of chocolate particulates introduced into the moulds by the dispenser 22 = 8

[0081] At the end of the forming and finishing steps a plurality of semi-finished shortbread biscuits were obtained, which were baked at a temperature of 200°C for 9 minutes.

[0082] After baking a plurality of substantially drop-shaped shortbread biscuits were obtained, each of them presenting 8 chocolate edible particulates embedded on the surface of the short pastry and therefrom exposed.

Claims

1. Apparatus (20) for the production of short pastry bakery products, particularly biscuits, having edible particulates, the apparatus comprising:

- a forming roller (21) having a surface (21a) whereon a plurality of short pastry dough forming moulds (25) are formed, said short pastry dough comprising a first fraction (23) of a plurality of edible particulates,

- a feed roller (7) co-operating with the forming roller (21) for pushing said short pastry dough mix (3) comprising said first fraction (23) of edible particulates to fill said moulds (25), forming a plurality of first semi-finished bakery products (29), each one in a respective mould (25),

- a conveyor belt (13) co-operating with the forming roller (6) for extracting said first semi-finished products (29) from the respective moulds (25),

the apparatus being characterised in that
each of said moulds (25) comprises a socket (26) constituting a receiving seat for said dough mix (3) comprising said first fraction (23) of the plurality of edible particulates, each socket (26) being formed on the surface (21a) of the forming roller (21) with dimensions substantially comparable to those of the desired end bakery products, and at least one cavity (27), preferably a plurality of cavities (27), formed in said sockets (26) and each constituting a receiving seat for an edible particulate of a second fraction (24) of said plurality of edible particulates, said first semi-finished products (29) having therefore edible particulates of said first fraction (23) substantially incorporated in said dough mix (3) and edible particulates of said second fraction (24) substantially raised with respect to the surface of the dough mix (3), and in that it comprises:

- a dispensing station (22) for dispensing, according to a predetermined distribution, said second fraction (24) of edible particulates in said moulds (25) not yet occupied by said short pastry dough mix (3) comprising said first fraction (23) of edible particulates, so as to allow said edible particulates of the second fraction (24) to occupy at least part of the cavities (27) of said moulds, and

- a finishing roller (28) having a surface whereon a plurality of moulds (34) are made having substantially the same arrangement of the moulds (25) of the forming roller (21) and dimensions comparable to those of said sockets (26), said finishing roller (28) co-operating with the conveyor belt (13) so as to intercept said first semi-finished products (29) in the respective moulds (34), compress in such moulds (34) said raised edible particulates of the second fraction (24) and release from said moulds (34) a plurality of second semi-finished products (35) wherein said edible particulates of the second fraction (24) are substantially embedded or inserted on the surface of the dough mix (3).

2. Apparatus (20) according to claim 1, characterised in that said forming roller (21) and said feed roller (7) are arranged substantially parallel to each other and are substantially in tangential contact through the respective surfaces (21a, 7a) in a contact area (8).

3. Apparatus (20) according to claim 2, characterised in that said forming roller (21) and said feed roller (7) are made to rotate in opposite angular directions (A, B) so as to form said first semi-finished products (29) in the respective moulds (25) in correspondence with said contact area (8).

4. Apparatus (20) according to any of the preceding claims, characterised in that said dispensing station comprises a dispenser (22) arranged on the forming roller (21) so as to dispense predetermined amounts of said edible particulates of the second fraction (24) in moulds (25) of said forming roller (21) not yet occupied by said dough mix (3) comprising said first fraction (23) of edible particulates.

5. Apparatus (20) according to any of the preceding claims, characterised in that it comprises a hopper (2) for loading said short pastry dough mix (23) comprising said first fraction (23) of edible particulates, said hopper (2) being in communication, beneath, with said forming roller (21) and said feed roller (7).

6. Apparatus (20) according to any one of claims 2 to 5, characterised in that said conveyor belt (13) is arranged below said contact area (8) between the forming roller (21) and the feed roller (7) and it comprises an ascending section (13a) interposed between a lower dragging roller (14) and an upper dragging roller (30), followed by a descending section (13b),

7. Apparatus (20) according to claim 6, characterised in that said lower dragging roller (14) is arranged below the forming roller (21) in close proximity thereof and said upper dragging roller (30) is arranged below the finishing roller (28) in close proximity thereof so that said conveyor belt (13) is substantially in contact with a circumferential portion of the forming roller (21) along a portion (13c) of the ascending section (13a) and it is substantially in tangential contact with the finishing roller (28) in correspondence with said upper dragging roller (30).

8. Apparatus (20) according to claim 6 or claim 7, characterised in that said lower dragging roller (14) and said upper dragging roller (30) are made of rubber.

9. Apparatus (20) according to any of the preceding claims, characterised in that said forming roller (21) is made of a material having a low adhesion coefficient for said dough mix (23), preferably teflon.

10. Apparatus (20) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that said conveyor belt (13) is made of a material having an adhesion coefficient for said first semi-finished products (29)higher than that of the forming roller (21).

11. Apparatus (20) according to claim 10, characterised in that said conveyor belt material (13) is cloth or similar materials.

12. Apparatus (20) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that said cavities (27) are formed on the bottom surface of the respective sockets (26) and have a substantially cylindrical or truncated conical shape.

13. Apparatus (20) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that said moulds (34) of the finishing roller (28) have dimensions slightly greater than those of said sockets (26) of the forming roller (21).

14. Apparatus (20) according to any one of the preceding claims from 2 to 13, characterised in that it comprises scraping means (12) arranged below said contact area (8) between the feed roller (7) and the forming roller (21), said scraping means (12) being in contact with the surface (21a) of the forming roller (21) for removing therefrom any excess of said dough mix (3).

15. Apparatus (20) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that said surface (7a) of the feed roller (7) exhibits longitudinal grooves (10).

16. Forming roller (21, 40) applicable to an apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims for the production of short pastry bakery products having edible particulates, the forming roller having a surface (21a, 40a) whereon a plurality of forming moulds (25, 41) are made and
characterised in that each mould (25, 41) comprises a socket (26, 42) constituting a receiving seat for a short pastry dough mix (23) comprising a first fraction (23) of edible particulates, said socket (26, 42) being formed on the surface (21a, 40a) of the forming roller (21, 40) with dimensions substantially comparable to those of the desired end bakery products, and at least one cavity (27, 43), preferably a plurality of cavities (27, 43) formed in said sockets (26, 42) and each of them constituting a receiving seat for an edible particulate of a second fraction (24) of edible particulates.

17. Forming roller (21, 40) according to claim 16, characterised in that at least one cavity (27, 43) is formed on the bottom surface of the respective socket (26).

18. Forming roller (21, 40) according to claim 16 or 17, characterised in that said at least one cavity (27, 23) exhibits a substantially cylindrical or truncated conical shape.

19. Method for the production of short pastry bakery products having edible particulates with an apparatus according to any one of claims from 1 to 15, the method comprising the steps of:

- preparing a short pastry dough mix (3) comprising a first fraction (23) of a plurality of edible particulates,

- loading said dough mix (3) between said forming roller (21) and said feed roller (7),

- continuously dispensing, according to a predetermined distribution, a second fraction (24) of said plurality of edible particulates in empty moulds (25) of the forming roller (21) so as to occupy at least part of the cavities (27) of said moulds (25) whereas said forming roller (21) and said feed roller (7) are made to rotate in opposite angular directions (A, B) thus obtaining a plurality of first semi-finished products (29) wherein the edible particulates of said first fraction (23) are substantially incorporated in said dough mix (3) and the edible particulates of said second fraction (24) are substantially raised from the surface of the dough mix (3).

- running the conveyor belt (13) according to a forward direction (C) concurrent with the forward direction of the surface (21a) of the forming roller (21) generated by the rotation direction thereof, thus obtaining the extraction of said first semi-finished products (29) from said moulds (25) and the collection thereof on the conveyor belt (13),

- rotating said finishing roller (28) according to the same angular direction of the forming roller (21) and at such a speed as to intercept said first semi-finished products (29) in their moulds (34), compress in said moulds (34) said raised edible particulates of the second fraction (24) and release from said moulds (34) a plurality of second semi-finished products (35) wherein said edible particulates of the second fraction (24) are substantially embedded or inserted onto the surface of the dough mix (3),

- recovering said second semi-finished products (35) from the conveyor belt and sending them on to baking.

20. Method according to claim 19, characterised in that said finishing roller (28) has an angular speed substantially equal to that of the forming roller (21).

21. Method according to claim 19 or claim 20, characterised in that said forming roller (21), said feed roller (7) and said finishing roller (28) have an angular speed comprised between 4 and 20 rpm.

22. Method according to any one of claims from 19 to 21, characterised in that the running speed of said conveyor belt (13) is comprised between 5 and 14 m/min.

23. Method according to any one of claims from 19 to 22, characterised in that the weight ratio of the edible particulates of said first fraction (23) to the edible particulates of said second fraction (24) varies from 30:70 and 70:30.

24. Method according to claim 23, characterised in that the weight ratio of the edible particulates of said first fraction (23) to the edible particulates of said second fraction (24) is about 50:50.

25. Bakery product (50) comprising a short pastry (51) and edible particulates (52, 53), characterised in that a first fraction of said edible particulates (52, 53) comprises edible particulates (52) substantially incorporated in said short pastry (51) and a second fraction of said edible particulates (52, 53) comprises edible particulates (53) substantially embedded or inserted onto a surface of said short pastry (51) so that they are therefrom exposed.

26. Bakery product (50) according to claim 25, characterised in that the weight ratio of the edible particulates of said first fraction (23) to the edible particulates of said second fraction (24) varies from 30:70 to 70:30.

27. Bakery product (50) according to claim 26, characterised in that the weight ratio of the edible particulates of said first fraction (23) to the edible particulates of said second fraction (24) is about 50:50.

Drawing